Anybody from my generation can certainly tell you the answer to that question. For one unforgettable September, we were glued to our TV sets watching the 1972 Summit Series between NHL Team Canada and the former Soviet Union.

It remains the most important and significant hockey series in the history of our game. Period.

The ’72 series marked the first time our front-line NHL All-Stars were allowed to play against the phony ‘amateurs’ of the former USSR. Mostly enlisted in the Red Army, the Soviet players were fully-paid professionals masking as amateurs and usually toyed with the real amateurs they faced annually in World Championships and every four years at the Winter Olympics.

That would all change, we agreed. Our NHL Canadians would crush them.

Well, there was no crushing involved, although our NHL Canadians did indeed emerge victorious with a hard-fought 4-3-1 record in a contentious and controversial eight-game series that featured equal parts incredible hockey and underhanded shenanigans.

We discovered the Soviet ‘robots’ with their goofy helmets and house-league jerseys were not only fit and talented, but also sneaky, dirty and sometimes downright vicious, a fact often overlooked by ridiculously one-sided referees once the second half of the series switched to Moscow.

There, in the drab, dreary confines of Luzhniki Arena, an inspired Team Canada — by then, finally in game shape and cohesive as a unit — won the last three games of the ’72 series, with all three game-winning goals supplied by Lucknow native Paul Henderson, who, yes, should be in the Hockey Hall of Fame for his outstanding performance in that pivotal series alone.

Canada’s pride in our Canadian hockey was fully restored, even though the Russians had indeed sent a clear message that they had arrived and were ready to migrate to the NHL. Soon, they would arrive.

Meanwhile, there was much surmising following the ’72 series. Belleville’s own Bobby Hull — the Golden Jet, the most dynamic player of his day and a prolific scorer with a booming slapshot that terrorized NHL goalies from coast to coast — had been blackballed from playing in the Summit Series after signing an historic million-dollar contract with the fledgling World Hockey Association and the Winnipeg Jets.

What if No. 9 had played against the Russians? With his goalscoring ability, would Canada have needed an eighth and final game to claim the series title?

So, 45 years ago, the WHA decided to find out. Already a thorn in the side of the NHL by stealing players and driving up salaries in the process, the rival major shinny league decided to form its own Team Canada and tackle the Soviets.

Team Canada ’74 was born.

I bumped into Bobby Hull a few months ago. He had stopped at a local downtown establishment for lunch on his way to a cattle auction with a couple of buddies.

“You know this year is the 45th anniversary of the ’74 series,” I said, shaking his hand.

“Damn right I do,” said Hull. “And we should’ve won too.”

Hull complained that, due to outside forces involved in the formation of the team (politics in sports — what?), some key players were omitted from the ’74 WHA Team Canada roster in favour of some skaters he believed did not deserve to be there.

That said, the WHA roster was still impressive and, sadly, rarely gets the recognition it truly deserves in the annals of international hockey. The powerhouse Hull was in the lineup; former Boston Bruins goalie Gerry Cheevers, who’d also been shut out of the ’72 Summit Series after jumping to the WHA’s Cleveland Crusaders; and the legendary Mr. Hockey, Gordie Howe, who’d come out of retirement to play in the WHA with his sons Mark and Marty, also suited up.

Standout defenceman Pat Stapleton and Henderson, who’d both filled prominent roles two years earlier in the ’72 showdown, were also on WHA Team Canada after trading leagues too.

The four-game Canadian segment of the series ended dead even with both teams at 1-1-2. Now it was on to Moscow, where WHA Team Canada stalwart and former Habs forward Ralph Backstrom lamented in an interview with Toronto sportswriter Trent Frayne, “It is very, very difficult to win.” No kidding.

Like the members of ’72 Team Canada before them, the ’74 WHA squad faced numerous obstacles in Moscow — on and off the ice — as the unscrupulous Soviets, bent on winning this series at any cost, used every possible method at their disposal to undermine their opponents.

Hull claimed that prime cuts of beef brought over from Canada to nourish the boys were boiled to oblivion by suddenly stupid Russian cooks. Mysteriously, cases of imported Canadian beer disappeared. Phones rang in Canadian hotel rooms in the middle of the night, waking weary players from much-needed slumber.

On the ice, the officiating was worse than in ’72. Canadian sportswriters covering the series joked that European referees were threatened with expulsion to Siberia if they didn’t tilt the game in favour of the hosts. As far as any zebras from the Iron Curtain were concerned, it was probably true.

Unlike their forerunners in ’72, the WHA players 45 years ago could not overcome all of the problems they faced in Moscow. With a tie and three wins in the Moscow half of the eight-game set, the Soviets cemented the series and the hardluck Canadians, who battled heroically to the bitter end, packed up their gear and headed home as a very frustrated group. Among the Moscow games, the tie included a disallowed Canadian goal and two of Russia’s three wins were achieved by a slim one-goal margin with Canada pressuring to the final buzzer.

Later, a beleaguered Backstrom, again speaking to Frayne, said he had gained renewed admiration for what ’72 Team Canada had accomplished two years earlier in Moscow.

“I don’t know how the hell they pulled it off,” he said.

There were some consolation prizes for WHA Team Canada, however. Hull led the series in scoring with seven goals and nine points.

And, perhaps even more impressively, by refusing to lose his cool even under the most challenging of on-ice circumstances, Hull was the lone Canadian to play in all eight games and accumulate zero penalty minutes.

Forty-five years ago, the Golden Jet indeed set the gold standard.

CZECH POINTS

… Deepest condolences to the family of Belleville auto dealer, PETER SMITH, who died in his sleep Thursday. He was 57. Smith was a tireless supporter of the local community, including as a sponsor for various minor sports teams and organizations. He was always willing to lend his support — with a smile. When Smith first arrived in Belleville, several years ago to take over the former Randy Knight GM dealership just north of the city, one of the first groups he backed was the Belleville Bearcats girls minor hockey association. One of the Bearcat teams had held a bottle drive and Smith had pitched in to help, including hosting the girls for a wrap-up to their fundraiser at the dealership. There, wearing their jerseys, the kids gleefully piled into the back of a GM pick-up truck for a team photo with Smith at the wheel. A parent sent the photo to me at The Intelligencer sports desk with caption information, but had failed to identify the driver. Nearing deadline and unable to confirm the I.D., I simply trimmed Smith from the photo and ran it in the sports section with just the happy girls in the back of the truck. A few days later, I was introduced to Smith. I laughed. “You aren’t going to believe this,” I said, sheepishly, “but I cut you out of that girls hockey fundraising photo. Sorry.” Smith thought that was great. He laughed and clapped me on the back. Years later, whenever we bumped into each other, he would remind me of that photo and we would share a laugh. Again. Peter Smith never cared about the glory, just getting the job done right. He leaves us much, much too early and will be greatly missed by so many. Our sports community has indeed lost one of its most ardent and cheerful supporters.

… People will tell you that you either loved or hated DON CHERRY. Not true. I was 50-50 on the recently deposed Hockey Night In Canada TV personality who offered his opinions — take them or leave them — every winter Saturday night for almost 40 years on Coach’s Corner. Sometimes I agreed with him; other times I thought he was completely out to lunch. At various times the controversial and always colourful Cherry made me laugh, cry, nod in agreement and yell at the TV set. Yes, he was a proud Canadian, of that there is no doubt. And yes, he supported many worthwhile causes and charities. But he also offended a lot of people and made a ton of money using his high-profile perch to promote everything from Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em hockey videos to a remedy for the common cold. Cherry had a good run. He parlayed a minor-pro playing career into an NHL coaching gig and finally a lucrative job on national TV. No tag days for Don. Perhaps it’s just time to move on.